Role of molecular tools and biotechnology in climate-resilient agriculture

Abstract

Global climate change is a man-made phenomenon fueled by ever-increasing population on the Earth which has generated a cascade of unprecedented fluctuations in precipitations almost throughout the world with having agriculture in the target as a highly vulnerable as well as a vital sector for humanity. Agriculture in climate change era means to deal with multifaceted scenario owing to the high frequency of multi-stressed environments in which stress-resilient crop cultivars are recommended as a solution with high reliability to facilitate management. By taking into account the acceleration in climate change-driven impacts and vitality of food security, the conventional methods of plant breeding can no longer meet the challenges; therefore, it is necessary to devote focus and financial resources to novel advancements in plant breeding. Nowadays, agricultural biotechnology is in its heyday and has significantly contributed to this field specifically in major crops. Biotechnology toolkit equipped with precise, efficient, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective tools has enabled researchers to unmask the genes involved in underlying resistant mechanisms against abiotic and biotic stresses and afterward validate and pyramid them into commercial cultivars with simultaneous durable multi-stress resistance. Further, genome-editing approaches have opened a new window to accurately manipulate plant genomes without off-target introgression. Numerous varieties of major food plants that were cultivated by farmers around the world have developed with the help of new methodologies. However, there is a tough road ahead, and these new tools are promising. Many more researches need to be done; the effects of stresses are intertwined which makes breeding projects challenging. Increasing information on plant genome with the aim of novel tools is the key to develop crop varieties that tolerate stress and still provide a reasonable yield and improve food security ultimately.